This is a season of new beginnings. A new year, soon to be followed by a new presidential administration, is getting underway. But this quadrennial recalibration of our national governance comes at a time when Americans — and their lawmakers — remain deeply divided.
Sometimes, those divisions mean gridlock, making it hard to achieve good government, at least in the way our founders intended.
While political scientists may differ on the definition of good government, they tend to agree on several fundamentals: that it be participatory, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient.
With those goals in mind, Lee Enterprises is partnering with InsideSources.com to bring you a yearlong series on the building blocks of our government.
We’ll examine a specific aspect of our civic life each month, how it was envisioned and how it works — or doesn’t — today. We’ll even share a short, fun quiz to test your knowledge on the subject. The series is also an excellent opportunity for young readers to develop a better understanding of what’s happening in Washington and how it affects them.
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We think the objective of good government is worth exploring because it’s more than a slogan. It’s an ideal our founders envisioned as ensuring Americans’ quality of life.
More than 210 years ago, Thomas Jefferson wrote of the connection: “The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only objective of good government.”
If you voted in November’s election, then you participated in our system of government. Now, it’s up to elected officials who serve “we, the people” to fulfill those other requirements of good government. Based on polls showing trust in government falling to new lows, many Americans no longer believe they will.
As 2021 unfolds, we’ll give you additional context to help you decide for yourself.
Today we look at executive orders, which Franklin D. Roosevelt used 3,721 times during his 12 years as president. Our series begins on Page A12.
